quote:A player can not purchase skills. You're going to notice in a couple of years some of the 14U studs around your son have flamed out. Why? They were trained to death before the puberty field was leveled. Ultimately, baseball success will comes down to innate athletic ability, baseball talent, then the cultivation and refining of ability once it arrives.
You're right. However, we moms whose sons are driven will do just about anything to help them. HS coaching is not always that good, and for us, batting practice is mostly just reps in the cage with hardly any true instruction. If he's not happy with his swing and I can't spot the problem, or my arm is about to fall off from pitching BP on the weekends (dad's a swimmer - can't throw a strike to save his life) it sure is nice to have a young man who just got back his minor league season teach my son those things that the pro coaches are teaching him. Call it what you want, but $20 for an hour is well worth it to me, especially when my son comes out of it feeling better and more confident.
I agree with the other posts also - no heavy lifting until the growth plates are closed. We just started on a baseball-specific training program this summer. Strength training focused on full range of motion, flexibility, and explosiveness. He's so proud of his new quads! (They are awesome)
